smalljaw67

The spook is one of my favorite topwater baits and I found the super spook jr. to be the perfect size, not too big to keep the quality 14"-16" fish away yet still big enough to bring on the big strikes. BTW my personal best smallie came on a full size Zara Spook, a few minutes after a friend told me there is no way a river smallie could hit it or even get hooked on it, the same friend always has a spook tied on now when the post spawn hits.

What kind of reel and when was the last time you used it? I'm asking because it sounds like a drag washer is either missing or bad and the reel brand lets us know what type of drag washers as some brands use felt washers that sometimes get compressed to the point of no applying pressure anymore. I have another question, how did you manage to get line on the reel with a loose drag? if the drag was loose then I would take the line right back off because it isn't going to lay right on the spool and your casting will be messed up, you'll be fighting with tangles instead of fishing.

6'6" medium power, fast action spinning rod with 8# line will handle most everything you're going to use.

If I were in the market for a set up the GL2 would be the furthest from my list, $200 dollars for a rod that is heavy with mediocre componetes, you get more with a Vendetta and they can't touch what you get with the *** Black.

I'll try to help here, you need to tell us what kind of paint, the reason is because of what cadman talked about, and that is the paint getting soft from things like nail polish ie. Sally Hansons hard as nails. If you use vinyl paint then it will soften and so will certain powder paints if not cured first bit if I were you what I would do is paint your jig and then use a light coat of epoxy, srinkle the glitter you want on and let dry and then do an epoxy coat over top. I prefer to powder paint and then dip in clear powder with glitter in the clear and then bake to cure, you can buy the clear with glitter pre mixed or you can buy the clear powder and glitter seperate and mix your own based on how much glitter coverage you want.

Rooster, what Cadman was talking about when he said "heating through" was the entire weight being heated so that the paint would melt on the entire weight because even though it is metal and it conducts heat you can still get an area that the paint will melt while just sticking without melting on another part of the jig. So in order to have 2 colors come together seamlessly the weight or jig needs to be heated through, just make sure you don't melt it. To do that you just hold your weight over the flame and count to 4 and try it, if it dosen't gloss over a few seconds after dipping try 6 seconds and so on and then remember how long you did it for the size weight you painted. I'll save you some time, don't use a hair dryer, no where near enough heat, you'll be on it for 6 hours before it even gets close enough for the paint to stick. You can heat in the toaster over and then pull the weight or jig out and then just dip, doing the toaster oven method is good for single colors, the reason I wouldn't use it for multiple colors is because of something you already found out, the small hunk of lead will cool very fast so having a jig right at 350 by the time you dip it has already dropped a few degrees and the paint will drop it even further so a second dip or even a few taps of ppwder from a brush isn't going to go on as the weight will be too cool. With a heat gun or torch you can heat then dip and then quickly give it another shot of heat and get the second color, and if you use the torch remember to keep the weight just above the flame, you don't want it to hit the weight, especially if you have paint on it since it will scorch any paint you have on it. Curing is simple, you'll see some guys really get into specific temps and times for different colors but I found that 350 for 15 is great and if you aren't confident try 20 as the few extra minutes won't hurt it, once you take it out and let it cool you can test the cure by dropping the weight on a side walk or other concrete surface to see if it chips, if it isn't cured properly you'll know it right away as it will chip instantly on the surface that hit the ground but I think no matter the brand or color 350 for 15 to 20 minutes should be good for a solid cure.

I'm going to echo everything Cadman has said, candles and lighters are not good, and you can't simply coat paint over bad spots because the paint will drip and leave "nipples" when it is cured. You need to cure the weights, it you aren't going to cure them then just use vinyl paint, powder is the toughest finish you can get once it is cured but it is also very brittle uncured and after a few cast the weight will lose half the paint. I wouldn't worry about spraying powder unless it was something you think you might do on a regular basis, not just a few worm weights every couple of months, however, a fluid bed would be a good investment as would a heat gun or propane torch, I'm old school and use a torch and I'll tell you what I tell others, use propane, not mapp gas, the reason why is because you'll melt your lead really quick, it is too hot so propane is the way to go if you use the torch.

A rule of thumb that works for me is when the water is cooler like the early spring prespawn, look for flat water or large current breaks, if the water is running high go right to the bank, any current break that is within 10 feet of the bank is going to hold fish during times of high water. When you get into post spawn and warm water , that is different, you will find fish in a variety of places but they will be spread out so covering water is the best bet. In the summer months look for riffles that are slightly deeper, the smaller fish will be at the top of the riffle and the bigger fish will be at the bottom of the riffle, but I have learned that you just can't get bit by trying the bottom of the riffle, you need to work down from the top all the way to the pool behind, the reason is a lot of the bigger fish will track a bait and take it before it hits calmer water. The reason they go to the riffles in summer is due to oxygen content, the moving water is cooler by a couple degrees and has more oxygen plus food gets washed down on a regular basis but as I said, that pattern is for warm water, in cold or cool water conditions stay away from the riffles.

River Rock Baits 3.5" pro series tube in either dark special, green pumpkin flash, or dill pickle, those 3 colors work on any body of water and any type of water clarity.

I don't think there is anything that smallmouth hit that largemouth won't and vice versa. I do notice that smallies tend to react to bright colors a little more than largemouth but nothing that wouldn't catch the other species either.

I'd go by what line are you going to use and what weight lures and more importantly, where are you going to throw the baits at? For example I'll use a 7' MH - F for casting a 1/2oz jig around moderate cover with 15lb mono but if I'm pitching a 1/2oz jig into nasty brush I'll use 50lb braid with a heavy power rod. The stouter rod makes for better hooksets where your line may be covered in weeds or when you are using really stout hooks.

I have one that might be right up your alley!! It is an older rod but well taken care of and like brand new, it is a Cabelas Fish Eagle 2, it was $79.99 when I got it but it is a 1 piece 6' medium power and although it is a fast action rod it is very forgiving. It has a full cork grip and to be honest I only stopped fishing it because I got a custom rod for the purpose I was using the Fish Eagle 2. The purpose of it was to cast spinnerbaits to a spot next that had a 6' ditch next to a bank that ran 50 yards or so when all the water around it was only 3' deep. The spot help big smallies but to hit the area you had to cast under overhanging trees and even a 6'6" rod was tough as the tip would hit the water but this little 6' casting rod had a good tip that loaded up with a 3/8oz bait that it took very little effort to make the cast and that rod won me a tounrament that provided enough money to have the custom rod made to replace it. I think Cabelas still makes the same model in an updated version, they may say fast action but if it is a medium power in a 6' length it is going to have plenty of flex.

That temperature range I like the X-Rap, 42 - 45 I like the suspending Super Rogue, those would be the favorites but there are times I like the Pointer 100, and late November last year I was really impressed with the Storm Twitch Stick.

I really need to pick a few up myself, right now I have some older Super Rogues and Super Rogue Jr.s that go to 6', around 5' or 5.5' on 12lb line and last week it was doing really well for me in the clown pattern but the fact that this bait will suspend at 10' is really going to change the game. I agree if you have murky water with less than 2' of visibility then jerkbaits in general aren't going to be great but if you have clear enough water this Rogue will let you get in on a jerkbait bite earlier than most as you will be able to get the bait down to the fish without having to wait until the fish move up.

Griffin odyssey spyder vise, $85 bucks, it handles up to 4/0 hook, it is a true rotary vise and has a lifetime warrany and is mostly metal, the best rotary vise you can get four less than $150. I tie a lot of hair jigs using hooks from a size #8 on a 1/48oz jig head all the way up to 4/0 hooks on a 1/2oz jig head and it is fantastic and you tie with confidence with the lifetime warranty.

I fish a large river as well as afew lakes for smallies and there were days when the river was diry or high that we would go up in the creeks until we could get no further and fish for these spooky critters. I say that because those resident fish are different than their big water cousins, I find that they rarely go after something larger than what is the norm for the creeks which is in shap contrast to smallies in larger bodies of water. If I were you I would go with 4" sleder senko type worms, the case magic stick and the jacks worm are great for using in small creeks. A tube is a good bait, try using a 2.5" to a 3" maximum, on as light as weight as possible, I use my own 1/16oz jig heads but you can buy them as well. Moving typs of baits would be an in-line spinner or small saftey pin type spinners like a strike king mini king spinnerbait or a beetle spin, those are deadly on small water smallies , just remember to keep it simple.

I will give you one last piece of advise and this you may not like to hear but reading on what you have to say it seems you want to sell an idea or design for a lure that you think is unique or worth a shot, if that is the concept it isn't going to work as I said before, a manufacturing company will say thanks but no thanks and it will end up on a shelf somewhere which is why I told you to get a paer notarized and sealed in a large envelope and mail it to yourself to have proff of the date you developed it. The part that you don't want to hear is you will have to produce it and sell it which means you'll have to either pitch it to someone who can back you finacially to produce a product and then sell it like the alabama rig, Andy posse developed it and patented it and it was bought by Mann's bait company but he made enough that it was out there and generated enough interest that it was bought. The same thing for a company called Riverside lures, they made a good soft plastic and they had a small but significant chunk of market share so they sold out to pradco which owns Yum and Booyah and so on, and pradco kept the riverside brand for a bit and then dropped it. That is how you would have to sell it to a large corp, even a small company can do it, the chatterbait was done by Rad lures, it was a small business that worked out of a garage and all it took was one pro to use it on T.V. and not only 2 months after it debuted it was bought by Zman. That is the route you need to take, not selling an idea but a product that you can get a nice chunk of market share to take notice and buy, instead of dealing with the legal aspects large companies often just want to get something on the shelf while sales are hot so they just end up buying the license or company out and that is how it happens. If you can't produce it yourself there are manufacturing companies that can do it for you but it will cost some money. Good luck.

If it truly is unique you can protect the idea quickly and on the cheap and that is either making an extra one or having detailed drawings done to scale. You take those to a notary and have a paper that you had the contents sealed as witnessed by a notary with a paper that states it with the notary's seal. Once you have that done mail it to yourself and when you get it put it aside. It sounds stupid but by doing that you just furnished proof of when the design and prototype was developed for manufacture, that will provide you first level of protection until your patent goes through. The next step is what ever you are going to call it, make sure that neame is trademarked, copies that are made can't be called the same thing. The thing you don't want to hear is is money, this is the sad truth, you will need a lot of money because even if you can't produce it you can find places that do manufacture for clients which is what you would be, what most do at this level if they don't have the money is to find investors and sell them the concept and see if you can find someone to bank roll the project. As you were already told, approach a company with an idea that is unprotected you will be told no and 6 months later it will be on a shel at Cabelas, I seen it happen to Cadman with something he came up with and was kind enough to share and it ended up being sold by a large number of fishing tckle vendors. Good luck.

I try to use the lightest possible jig I can get away with unless I'm flipping and then I'm using a 1/2oz jig or larger as I want it to fall fast through cover for a reaction strike. But if I'm casting a jig in warm water, if I'm not using a finesse jig, I'll go with 1/4oz from zero to 5' maybe 6', a 3/8oz jig out to about 10' or 12', and a 1/2oz out to 15', deeper than that I'm on a 3/4 or 1oz jig. Finesse jigs or cold water hair jigs are a different story as I try not to go over 5/16oz with 1/8 or 3/16oz being the main weight.

I bought 1 pack of the TK130 4/0 flipping hooks and after using them I got 4 more packs. I wasn't going to over pay for hooks anymore but the flipping hooks are awesome, and what sold me is how easily they go through plastic. Last year I got a good bite in and half my hook set was ruined as a small stick upm caught my line but surprisingly the hook had gone through the top lip and that is when I was sold on them. I do like my VMC and Mustad hooks for jigs and spinnerbaits, I'm afraid if I try the Trokar models I'll be forking out a lot of cash.

It depends on the size of the swim jig but I use a 3/16oz and 1/4oz mostly so the trailers that go on those tend to be 3.5" Gene Larew Sweet Swimmers or 3.75" River Rock Strikers. If I was using a 3/8oz or 1/2oz swim jig then a grass pig would work for both, for the 3/8oz all you need to do is bite a half inch off and leave it whole for the larger one. The idea in using a swim jig with a swimbait trailer is to bulk up the presentation, you are getting a bait through cover and into the fishes territory and it looks larger than it actually is, that is what draws the big strikes. Remember that bass will eat fish this size and bigger if they can get it in their mouth, I've witnessed 7" chub in my live well that was spit up by the 4lb 9oz smallmouth I had in there, after that is when I began using swim jigs with swimbaits.

For the places I fish I have distinct uses for both like the squarebills are my rip rap and stump flat bait of choice. spinnerbaits are my favorite bait, to me they aren't a search bait which is why I throw them on a shorter rod than most because I target cast with them and will often find patterns using them that can last all day. I can use the spinnerbait just about anywhere and any depth but I prefer th throw them at the corners of docks, the edges and over top of weedbeds as well as around wood including stumsps. Early on in May until mid June I do have some spots when I could use either or, these are flats that have laydowns and stumps scattered around, those places are great for both baits but I lean toward the squarebill at that time because when it gets to late June and into July then the weeds have grown to the point it hampers the squarebill and then the spinnerbait will take over.

Hair jigs, they are really natural and I'll bet very few, if anyone, is throwing them. Ypu can buy them from a store or you can tie them yourself or find someone to tie them for you but a good 3/16oz to 3/8oz hair jig will work anywhere when the bite is tough. I also say to use a pure hair jig, the hair and silicone version are good but they are normally too bulky for clear water or pressured situations.

I have 2 favorites because I use them all year round and I use a floating model in warm water and a suspending model in cold water. My favorite suspending jerkbait is a LC Pointer 100, but a close second would be the Rapala X-Rap followed by the McStick 110. The floating models I use in summer are a rattlin' rogue and a Rapala flat rap, it is a tie because the rogue has been producing great for a long time while the flat rap has only been in use for a couple of years. Suspending baits I like clown color or "nishiki" as Lucky Craft calls it for my pointer, the X-Rap I like glass ghost and the McStick I really like cell mate. For the floating models I like clown or log perch in the rogue, and purpledescent or yellow perch for the flat rap and thats not to be confused with perch which is brighter than the yellow perch.

Good post!!! I like this because I've had square bills in my box for years as I love fishing the Big O , I have both wood and plastic models. Rick Clunn came out with a series by Lucky Craft and a bunch of guys liked those and of course the DT Fat 3 came about but these were all alive and well until VanDam won using a square bill and suddenly everyone was talking about them again, the funny part is most of us that have been at this for at least 10 years probably had a few in the box. I have to admit that I got caught up in the moment myself and went out and got a couple KVD 1.5 and 2.0 baits as well as some Xcalibur XCS baits.